The Cyprus Institute

About: The Cyprus Institute is a other organization based out in Nicosia, Cyprus. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Aerosol & Environmental science. The organization has 418 authors who have published 1252 publications receiving 32586 citations.

Applications of geoinformatics for the prevention and mitigation of natural hazards

Abstract: This Special Issue of Natural Hazards is entitled ‘‘Applications of Geoinformatics for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards.’’ It encompasses selected papers that were presented at the ‘‘Third International Conference on Remote Sensing and Geoinformation of Environment—RSCy2015’’ that was held in Cyprus from March, 16 to 19, 2015. The Special Issue comprises thirteen papers which cover a wide spectrum of geoinformatics applications. I am very glad to have been invited to act as the Guest Editor for this Special Issue of Natural Hazards. I consider it a privilege and an honor to closely collaborate with so many authors in order to deliver this volume after a strict anonymous review process. The first paper in this volume by Agapiou et al. forms an attempt to assess the risk of natural and anthropogenic hazards for cultural heritage in Cyprus by integrating multitemporal GIS and earth observation analyses based on homogeneous clustering of the local monuments under consideration. The proposed clustering of monuments is based on a variety of parameters, taking into consideration characteristics of their immediate environment. For each one of the five clusters of monuments studied, an analytical hierarchy process (AHP) method is followed in order to address the individual and unique characteristics of the monuments and sites. Subsequently, the weight factors from these clusters were interpolated to the whole district, prior to the application of the overall AHP risk assessment. Fiorani et al. report on the direct measurement of carbon dioxide in a volcanic plume as retrieved by a volcanic lidar, thus showing the high potential of laser remote sensing in early detection of volcanic hazard. Anomalous releases of carbon dioxide precede volcanic eruptions. The development of the volcanic lidars has been undertaken at the Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development. Lidar profiling allows the scanning of volcanic plumes remotely in a fast and continuous

Low-lying positive-parity excited states of the nucleon

Abstract: We present an overview of the correlation-matrix methods developed recently by the CSSM Lattice Collaboration for the isolation of excited states of the nucleon. Of particular interest is the first positive-parity excited-state of the nucleon known as the Roper resonance. Using eigenvectors of the correlation matrix we construct parity and eigenstate projected correlation functions which are analysed using standardized methods. The robust nature of this approach for extracting the eigenstate energies is presented. We report the importance of using a variety of source and sink smearings in achieving this. Ultimately the independence of the eigenstate energies from the interpolator basis is demonstrated. In particular we consider $4\times 4$ correlation matrices built from a variety of interpolators and smearing levels. Using FLIC fermions to access the light quark mass regime, we explore the curvature encountered in the energy of the states as the chiral limit is approached. We report a low-lying Roper state contrasting earlier results using correlation matrices. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time a low-lying Roper resonance has been found using correlation matrix methods. Finally, we present our results in the context of the Roper results reported by other groups.

A new marine biogenic emission: methane sulfonamide (MSAM), DMS and DMSO 2 measured in air over the Arabian Sea

Abstract: . We present the first ambient measurements of a new marine emission methane sulfonamide (MSAM), along with dimethyl sulfide (DMS) and dimethyl sulfone (DMSO2) over the Arabian Sea. Two shipborne transects (W to E, E to W) were made during the AQABA (Air Quality and Climate Change in the Arabian Basin) measurement campaign. DMS mixing ratios were in the range 0.3–0.5 ppb during the first traverse of the Arabian Sea (first leg) and 0.1 to 0.3 ppb in the second leg. In the first leg DMSO2 was always below 0.04 ppb and MSAM was close to the limit of detection. During the second leg DMSO2 was between 0.04–0.12 ppb and MSAM was mostly in the range 0.02–0.05 ppb with maximum values of 0.06 ppb. An analysis of HYSPLIT back trajectories combined with calculations of the exposure of these trajectories to chlorophyll a content in the water revealed that most MSAM originates from the Somalia upwelling region, known for its high biological activity. This new marine emission is of particular interest as it contains both sulfur and nitrogen, making it potentially relevant to marine nutrient cycling and particle formation.

Systematic and data-driven literature review of the energy and indoor environmental performance of swimming facilities

Abstract: During the last few decades, focus on measures for energy conservation in buildings has increased considerably. The European Commission implemented the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive, which gave instructions to the member states about how to reduce energy consumption in residential and non-residential buildings. In the process of making the building sector more energy efficient, the building codes generally have become stricter with some simplifications applied in the requirements. For swimming facilities in Norway, these simplifications are undermining the purpose of the code by excluding the energy use related to the operation of swimming pools, which is the main part of the energy use in this building category. In other words, the energy use related to operation of the facility is not regulated. Furthermore, guidelines for the planning and operation of these types of facilities are outdated and research for this building category is sparse. These three aspects mean that there is a considerable potential for improvement. This paper presents a comprehensive literature review with bibliometric and thematic analyses of the contextualized research in swimming facilities from a heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning perspective. It maps the major trends during the past few decades, where areas like solar heating for outdoor pools, energy consumption, and air quality stand out. Except for air quality and disinfection by-products, research on these facilities is highly fragmented without any strong contributors to the various fields.